The glycemic index – how it really works

The GI classifies carbohydrates based on how they impact on blood glucose levels. It specifically ranks how quickly and the way high various carbohydrates increase blood sugar – and subsequently insulin levels – after eating. Foods with a low GI are digested more slowly, which leads to a lower and more gradual change in blood glucose than foods with a high GI.

Low GI foods have a GI below 55; medium GI foods have a GI between 55 and 70; high GI foods have a GI over 70. For examples of low, medium and high GI foods, click here.

The glycemic load – how it really works

The GI is predicated on serving sizes of food that contain 50 grams of carbohydrate – a portion that isn’t all the time realistic for a given food. For instance, watermelon is taken into account to be a high GI food, but one slice comprises only 6 grams of carbohydrate. The GI reflects the impact on blood sugar after eating greater than 8 slices! With a purpose to account for appropriate serving sizes, the GL was created as a more accurate meal-planning tool.

The GL multiplies the quantity of carbohydrate in a sensible portion of a given food by its GI. For instance, to calculate the GL of 1 watermelon slice, you multiply its GI (72) by its carbohydrate content (6 grams per serving) and divide by 100. This provides one slice of watermelon a low GL of 4.3.

Low GL foods have a GL below 10; medium GL foods have a GL between 11 and 19; high GL foods have a GL over 20. Individuals with diabetes should select low GL foods more often. The table below shows which foods have a low GL.

Adapted from: http://bit.ly/19fUWtk